Over the last six plus years I have been lucky to have a job that allows me to listen to a lot of podcasts on a daily basis while I complete my job duties. Over that time I have found some great advantages and disadvantages to having the time and access to teachings electronically. Today I want to provide my take on the disadvantages of podcasts.
Burnout
There is so much to chose from that eventually it can become too much. And when you become overwhelmed with the sure volume of teachings available online the easiest way to keep from drowning is to turn it off. It is so much easier to move to sports or other less serious topics available on the internet. With the variety of content available online one can simply ignore teachings and not use podcasts as a tool for growth but something that can simply be ignored.
Local Church Discounts
I love the men that I have called my pastors. They have mentored me, they have poured themselves into my life unconditionally. But they have not always been the most studied or charismatic speakers on a weekly basis as the best teachers one can find online on a weekly basis. Let’s face it, the local pastor is simply more likely to have an off week than a teacher God has blessed with gifts that make them as polished as any inspirational speaker who does not need to live by a van down by the river. Our local guy likely lacks the staff and resources that would make him an every week hit. By exposing yourself to fantastic teaching, one can begin to take their local church pastor less seriously or begin to ask why he/she isn’t as good as (insert favorite name here) that I listen to for free online. Basically, if you expose yourself to enough excellent teachings you can begin to take your local teacher less seriously. And this is a major fault on the listener’s behalf. As good as a speaker may be online, that person is not participating in your life on a daily basis and does not love you on the personal level that one’s local pastor does.
Are You Hearing Me
There are things that I don’t want to talk about. There are things I don’t want to think about. When those subjects come up on a teaching, well it’s pretty easy to find another teaching. The reason they hurt is because I NEED TO GROW IN THIS AREA. Since I need to grow it hurts, hey growth is not always fun and happy. I am a completionist, so eventually I return to that message that I don’t want to hear. But the timing may not be a growth moment by the time I return, listening at a time when my focus on the teaching is fairly superficial. However in the local sanctuary, if I was to turn off the message by walking out of dosing off, let’s face it my pastor and everyone else in my community is going to know. In effect, in my community I’m a captive audience, the same cannot be said for a podcast when I control the volume and play buttons.
Selective Listening
When you are listening and multitasking, you don’t always hear everything. And so the speaker’s message can easily get lost. And then you the listener miss the point. The additional hearing problem is when taking in so a bunch of teaching, which is really easy to do it’s pretty easy to forget or ignore the speaker’s main point or call to action. Simply put, I have heard so many talks that it is impossible for me to be impacted on a personal nature by all of them or even most of them. The best I can hope for is that I am being marinated in great teachings that hopefully sharpens my mind, frees my soul and strengthens my relationship with my creator.
These disadvantages should not stop one from interacting with content online. Instead the listener needs to be aware of the blind spots and traps one can fall into by primarily relying on podcasts for teaching instead of engaging in a religious community.
